Re: Poor single thread performance problems return?

Just been noticing terrible performance on my Zen FTTC connection and having rebooted all my equipment, I found this thread after doing the following speed test.

It's the upload speeds that are killing me as I make a lot of use of cloud storage. Normally I see a solid 20Mbps uploads and 60+Mbps downloads regardless of time of day. My line sync is 74.69/20Mbps (down/up).

I'll report this to Zen support in the morning because this is completely unacceptable. I would appreciate any help Zen staffers can offer to get this resolved.

Just to add, I notice from the Zen Portal line data page that my line is using "Talk Talk Business" line technology. Is this a recent thing because I'm pretty sure I was using BT Open Reach not so long ago. Do TTB only handle the back haul and BT handling the copper or what? Can someone explain who does what briefly? I'm an electronics eng and computer consultant so I promise I won't take much explanation.

Re: Poor single thread performance problems return?

Interesting, yeah my connection used to be on BT back-haul but is now on Zen's own back-haul (GEA FTTC, has been for a while). Basically yes, Openreach are responsible for maintaining the copper and equipment in the exchange but the back-haul beyond that is then TalkTalk Business (in your case). When 'data' reaches the exchange then it ends up going via TalkTalk Business's equipment (LLU) in the exchange and subsequently via their own back-haul. At least that's my understanding.

Re: Poor single thread performance problems return?

Before I called Zen support I decided to do all the usual steps of connecting to test socket with a different microfilter and turning everything off and on etc. I also isolated my network by disconnecting all equipment (wired and wireless) except for the laptop connected directly to the main router via ethernet. Lo and behold I started to see 70/18Mbps (down/up) and it was very stable. So, piece by piece I built everything back up starting with the faceplate microfilter and then router wifi and then finally the upstairs feed which is an ethernet cable which connects to an 8 port HP switch which in turn feeds a couple of other routers and some other bits and bobs. Suddenly I'm getting poor speeds again, but only when connecting to ethernet upstairs or wifi from upstairs. Hmm...

After a bit of diagnostics including a temporary 15 meter cable from downstairs to upstairs I find it's the ethernet cable which is bad and when I took the faceplates off to check the connections I find it only has 2 pairs of conductors hooked up (orange, green) and looks like a telephony cable not a Cat 5/6 cable. In fact the cable only has 3 pairs of conductors in total so is definitely not suitable for gigabit ethernet! To make matters worse the cable was doing double duty with the 3rd pair of conductors feeding a telephone extension point. Not ideal!

Sure enough, when I checked my HP switch, the connection was only running at 100Mbps full duplex which in theory shouldn't restrict a 70Mbps VDSL connection but when combined with the fact it's not at least Cat 5 and has a pair of telephony wires running alongside then all bets are off I'd say!

So, looks like I'll be pulling a new Cat 6 cable through the walls tomorrow and hopefully that should sort out my issues. So, apologies to Zen for jumping to conclusions, and to Talk Talk Business for suggesting their back-haul was to blame!

Re: Poor single thread performance problems return?

Yes. The TBB speed test and Zen's own speed test show similar results. I.e., getting around 15Mpbs speed regardless of the time of day.

This is testing with a wired ethernet connection as well. Zen support have told me their network operations team are looking into the issue. Last I heard from Zen support was on the 5th of October just to say they haven't heard anything more from their network team.

Re: Poor single thread performance problems return?

As I've said in a previous thread I've not been around for a while, but my colleagues do keep an eye on this forum. I just wanted to pop in and reiterate that the best thing to do if anyone is experiencing issues is to contact Tech Support, who can raise to the Network Operations team to resolve, if that is the best way to get the problem resolved.

If any configuration changes need to be made by the Network Ops team, this could take some time to arrange, as it will need to be agreed with the business as part of our change control process, to manage the risk around making any changes.

Cheers,

Jon

The above post has been made by an ISP REPRESENTATIVE (although not necessarily the ISP being discussed in the post).